Cross-country bicycle tour film marks recovery from hit-and-run

“If you’re a driver, slow down, give us some room. This is our life. What’s a few more feet. Take it easy on us.”

That’s one message that Pearson and Peter Constantino want to share in a soon-to-be released video, “The Long Ride Back.”

The film chronicles Pearson’s recovery from a hit and crash with an SUV, and the challenge of making a 3,500-mile cross-country bicycle ride.

The other message is unspoken — seeing the country from a bicycle saddle is a hell of a lot of fun.

The brothers’ dreams of a cross-country bicycle ride were delayed in 2006 after a hit-and-run by an SUV left Pearson seriously injured in a ditch near his home. In spite of the broken femur, crushed vertebra, and head injury, Pearson and his brother wouldn’t be denied their adventure and set off on the cross-country trip two years later.

Along their route from Newport, Oregon, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the two met with school groups, newspaper reporters and others to advocate for sharing the road and improved bicycle infrastructure.